a little birdie....

Today Ann Wood is putting new little birds up for sale at noon, i'm so excited and hope I can get one or two as christmas gifts before they sell out!

last night on TV

SCRUBS

Carla to the Janitor: You've got to dole out your crazy in little pieces

30 ROCK

Jack: We are Lovers.
Liz: Oh, that word bums me out unless it’s between the words meat and pizza.
Liz: Wow, you must really have some serious feelings for her.
Jack: Ok, if I can’t say lovers you can’t say feelings.

Tracy: I spent two days making that movie for my homie and what did I get? A million dollars and yellow Bentley and nothing.

Kenneth: What’s your favorite pizza topping? Mine's plain. But I like others.

Oh, and my favorite from last week:

Liz: Frank, stop it!
Frank: I can't, I'm gay for Jamie
Liz: No, that's not a thing, you can't be gay for just one person...unless you're a lady...and meet Ellen

I don't know what I'm going to do if the writer's strike doesn't end soon, I don't think I can watch another office re-run!

amanda peet

I just got my new domino magazine in the mail today, and it's a good one. There's a feature on Amanda Peet's house that I love, it's rustic and cozy and full of personality. She has lots of John Robshaw linens and antiques.I also loved Laura Resen's home, mostly for the bookshelves, but it's also got that cozy, rustic feeling I like.

madewell

I just got an email from madewell, and they have some great cold weather gifts. But I have to say that my favorite is the hooded scarf, i'm always turning my scarf into a makeshift hoodie! The site design is pretty cute as well.

irene suchocki

"dream a little dream"
"your moment of zen"
"go ask the blossoming trees"

illustration

Slate had a great article this week about children's book illustrators and it made me get to thinking about my favorites. Here are two of them:Bill Peet
When I was in grade school I remember going back over and over again to "Peet" in the library. I read every book he had a few times, but my favorites were "Merle the High-Flying Squirrel" and "Huge Harold". If I could take illustration classes from any children's book illustrator, he would be my first pick.

Arnold Lobel
"Days with Frog and Toad" and "Frog and Toad all year" were my favorites, I remember reading this with my mom and there was this one part that would make me laugh so hard, and my mom would laugh too. The illustrations are pretty simple, but I felt like they had a dark edge to them.

best games

One thing I love about going home for Christmas is the chance to play games at home with the whole family. When I was a teenager, my mom would screen the guys I dated with a game of Scrabble...and the guys always won. We also learned to play books and runs from the Herrshers and have had a few dramatic games in our history (throwing cards, crying, leaving the room...and it was all me)

Here's a roundup of my favorite games:



And a few really old favorites:

some good G.O.B.

happy black friday!

tagged

1. I eat candy until it makes me sick to my stomach. It’s different kinds of sick based on the candy. For instance, a candy-corn stomachache feels very different than a good & plenty stomachache or a peeps stomachache…but it takes lots of chocolate covered gummi bears to make me sick. Also, do you notice a trend here? I tend to gravitate towards the crap candy everyone else gave up as disgusting around age 5, my favorites are basically pure sugar, with a little food coloring.

2. Nothing really grosses me out or scares me. I know lots of people are germ-a-phobes and all-antibacterial these days (I still remember Chareese’s gasp when I touched the escalator handrail). Whenever I have to touch something gross…I think of something my dad’s mom told him, “You can always wash your hands” and I dive in. Don’t get me wrong, I like my house spic and span as much as the next guy, but I just don’t mind getting the disgusting hair out of the drain, touching raw meat, killing insects, un-clogging the toilet, etc. I just wash my hands afterwards and all is well. Once, my friend's older brother called me over to his house to get rid of a scorpion for him. Under the nothing-grosses-me out category, I also love crime drama, CSI, Medium, stories from friends who work in the ER… Jim can’t stand it, but those are the things I want to watch/hear…it fascinates me.

3. I am a huge Debbie Downer. In the middle of a normal conversation with someone about Christmas shopping for their kid’s, I’d probably bring up all the recalled toys from China with lead paint, or the Aquadots that put kids into coma’s . Then the person I’m talking to won’t know what to say, and there will be a long awkward pause, and I’ll realize what I’ve just done and apologize. I do it ALL the time…I’m trying to stop! When I have a really bad Debbie Downer moment, Jim will do the sound effect from the SNL skit.

4. Potty humor makes me laugh every time. It's the kind of church-giggles laughing, that once it starts, I can't slow down, and invariably the conversation starts a downward spiral that can't be stopped. One of the things I love most about my closest friend is that she (I won't name names) and I still get each other laughing this way whenever we're together.

5. I do everything REALLY fast. I get impatient when I have to slow something down. I read fast, walk fast, draw fast, and clean my kitchen before I finish cooking. I like to think it's a ruthless efficiency, but it's not, it makes me very in-efficient. I think I could be a decent artist if I just had to patience to spend a little more time on the details, and I would remember the last book I read a little better if I didn't plow through it so fast. Even walking from place to place I walk FAST, and I'm always thinking of the places I need to go, people I need to see. Still I can't keep up with Brooke's speedy sudoku.

6. I'll do anything for the story. I love to hear and tell and good story. When I'm on a trip and something terrible or embarrasing is happening, I get a secret thrill in thinking, this is going to be a GREAT story. Only two problems, one, I'm a horrible story-teller, and two, I never have the rapt audience I imagine. That's why I love the blog.

I tag: katie, natalie, steph, & mattie

whimsical hats

These hats from kate spade would be a sweet gift for the holidays. Left to right: thought bubble, sunglasses, mistletoe. They are made by women in bosnia & herzegovina and all the proceeds go to a good cause, see below:

Women for women international helps women in war-torn regions rebuild their lives by giving them financial and emotional support, job skills training, rights education, access to capital and assistance in small business development. this product has been carefully handcrafted by a woman in bosnia and herzegovina. your purchase is directly supporting a woman as she rebuilds her life, family, and community.